Patmos Foundation for World Missions (later PFWM) is a
Finnish Christian humanitarian aid organization. We work in 25 countries, among
others in Armenia. In Armenia PFWM started to help immediately after the 1988
earthquake bringing humanitarian aid to Armenia. Later on PFWM has supported
children's rehabilitation program in Kharberd Specialized Children's Home. Our
coordinator in the program has been, since 1992, physiotherapist Anneli Turja.
Patmos Ararat, a local NGO continues to implement the program and Anneli Turja
is the supervisor of it up to now and visits Armenia several times a year to
bring new methods and models of physiotherapy into Armenia.
After the devastating earthquake of 1988 when Anneli Turja came to Armenia she
saw that Armenia badly needed rehabilitation. Besides the humanitarian
assistance that Patmos Foundation for World Missions provided Armenia, they set
a goal to train a team who would be qualified in the field of rehabilitation and
would be able to train their compatriots. The team members were Ruzanna
Shahinyan, Hayk Badalyan and Karine Khachatryan. Later on April 28, 2003 three
of them founded "Patmos Ararat" charity foundation and are the founding members
of it up to now.
On October 1, 2009 Patmos-Ararat opened a new Day care and Rehabilitation Center
for the children with disabilities focusing on the children under the school
age. This project is unique in the way that we have a car which takes the
children from their homes and takes them back. Thus the children become
independent as they go to Daycare Rehabilitation center without their parents.
We trained rehabilitation staff by using the international biopsychosocial model
in physiotherapy and in the rehabilitation of children. In this development
project for the children with disabilities the partners are the Ministry of
Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, RA Ministry of Health, Patmos Ararat NGO,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and Patmos Foundation for World Missions
(PFWM).
Our goal is to rehabilitate the children with disabilities by giving them
physiotherapy and other rehabilitation services so that children become as
independent as possible and are able to integrate to their family and to the
Society. This improves the quality of life of a child with disabilities.